Sensitivity-Auto vs Manual

[dgc]

I have a dime buried at approximately 8" that I have been practicing on with my Etrac. Yesterday in Auto sensitivity +3 the reading on the left bar was 26. In this mode it takes fairly brisk (quick) sweeps to hit the dime. When I go to Manual sensitivity and set it to 26 I can pick up the dime with very slow sweeps. There was a very pronounced difference in Auto vs Manual in terms of acquiring the target when working slowly. Has anyone else noticed this? If you have a deep test garden coin try it and see if you observe the same thing. It appears that running in Manual is more conducive to detecting slowly to me.

I was able to drop the sensitivity all the way down to 22 in manual and still pick up the dime with slow sweeps. At 22 I was running very near the sensitivity being suggested by the Etrac on the right bar. I know the Auto vs Manual thing has been discussed before but I am definitely seeing an advantage to Manual.

 

[NebTrac]

Thanks DGC. Yes there can be an advantage. You did run it in your test garden, so your ground was clean. In some "not so clean" ground you might get more "chatter" when running too high a sens. in manual. That will just be site dependant. Another cool feature of the machine.

NebTrac

 

[dgc]

Yes there may be some more chatter in Manual Neb but as I said I was able to reduce sensitivity all the way down to the Etrac recommended value and that should help with any chatter. I was pretty amazed at how much better the Etrac response was in Manual while sweeping slowly over a deep target.

 

[madmax800]

I never evr run the auto setting, and when on Manual its always at 6.

On the odd occasion I need auto just hit the left arrow, then again to return to manual.

madmax800

Etrac user Australia

 

[Neil]

Yes there may be some more chatter in Manual Neb but as I said I was able to reduce sensitivity all the way down to the Etrac recommended value and that should help with any chatter. I was pretty amazed at how much better the Etrac response was in Manual while sweeping slowly over a deep target.

Like Nebtrac says thats really gonna be site specific. I beach hunt mostly and for me auto sens works best. to sit and test a single target is one thing but when your all over a beach where mineralization is changing, manual can drive you nuts. for some reason even more on the etrac than the explorer.
Ive tried manual many times on the etrac and as many different settings and its still noisy compared to the clean sound auto gives. In manual I find myself constantly rechecking faint signals that just turn out to be the ground. For some reason I dont get this on my explorers, I can just drop the sens down in manual and it runs pretty quite.
If manual works for you than thats the way you should go, but where I hunt auto trumps manual on my etrac.

 

[DAN03USMC]

OK, This was the post I was referring to when I was asking Goesforever in my other post...............I am going to have to try this. does anybody keep a log while detecting? I know it maybe a hassle, but I get cought up in the moment when I am detecting and will forget some of the stuff I do, and/or the settings I am using. I think the extra effort will speed up the higher end learning curve. I think what I am going to do is take notes here, try them in the field, take notes there and see if there are any correlations.
Any info I get, I will pass on. I appreciate it when others pass on their knowledge and findings. thanks for all your input. Dan

 

[EladSwerdna]

I hunt in the deep woods/old fields/cellar holes, and I make it a habbit to occasionaly compare auto vs manual while locating a deep target in the field. Every time the manual mode produces a more pronounced and present sound, while the auto had a very difficult time detecting the same target.

However, It is site dependant. If I went to a park I would probably use auto because it appears to be less sensitive.

 

[mpostma]

Just keep in mind that there are three channels on the Etrac. When you have it on auto they are not all on the same sens setting. When you go to manual they will all be whatever your setting is.
The number showing on Auto is kind of the average of the three. So, with no trash, like in your garden it would react quite a bit different than in tough ground with can slaw and other trash. If you have Andy's book it explains it better than I can.

Good Luck,
Mark

 

[moonshine]

this is really amazing stuff....man im so glad you guys are here. ) always another twist... im gonna have to try this in my test garden.

 

[markg]

I have noticed the same thing with my Etrac. The auto sensitivity sets the sensitivity according to three different sensitivity frequencies (so to speak). Setting the machine to manual sets all three sensitivity levels the same.
The manual has some good info on this.

I have a dime buried at approximately 8" that I have been practicing on with my Etrac. Yesterday in Auto sensitivity +3 the reading on the left bar was 26. In this mode it takes fairly brisk (quick) sweeps to hit the dime. When I go to Manual sensitivity and set it to 26 I can pick up the dime with very slow sweeps. There was a very pronounced difference in Auto vs Manual in terms of acquiring the target when working slowly. Has anyone else noticed this? If you have a deep test garden coin try it and see if you observe the same thing. It appears that running in Manual is more conducive to detecting slowly to me.

I was able to drop the sensitivity all the way down to 22 in manual and still pick up the dime with slow sweeps. At 22 I was running very near the sensitivity being suggested by the Etrac on the right bar. I know the Auto vs Manual thing has been discussed before but I am definitely seeing an advantage to Manual.